Disclaimer: I do not own Friday Night Lights, or any of its characters or plots. I just own my storyline and my OCs.
The following morning Mac and Sue were astonished when they learnt that Jack and María had broken up. They knew that they were not seeing each other as much as they did in the summer, but they thought it was due to their tight schedule. They really liked Jack and according to them he was the perfect boy for María. She just told them that she was not in love with him and that it was pointless to be together. She gave no further explanation and her parents were surprised but never suspected there could be something else to it.
The previous night María had arrived home just before curfew. Both her parents were already in bed so luckily for her she just said good night from the hall and went straight to her bedroom. Had her parents been up then, they would have certainly found it weird to see her clad in football training clothes. She even had made up an explanation for that in case they would see her, but she just kept it for the moment her mother would eventually find those clothes in the laundry basket. She hoped that Sue would just take them as hers with number 33 on them, and she made a quick mental note to remember to give them back to Tim as soon as they were in her dresser.
Tim and María had been both quiet on the ride to her house. It felt like they had said too much while they were at the cliffs and now they needed to set up new boundaries between them. They had been really close friends while growing up, but they had not shared that level of intimacy since they were kids. And they were not kids anymore. So when they arrived to her driveway she undid her seatbelt, moved over to Tim and hugged him, whispering "Thank you for everything" and asking "Are we cool?" She was afraid of the consequences their conversation might have in the near future. Tim just mumbled "Yeah", smiling to her. When he tried to grab her hand she was already hopping out the truck and waving at him.
By the time she arrived home she had eleven missed calls and five texts from Jack. After he left the truck stop, he had been driving around trying to calm down, and he had come back to get María as soon as he realized that he had been a jerk. He had called her many times on his way back. But when he had gotten to the spot where María had climbed off this truck, there was no sign of her. He had looked around the parking lot and gone inside the diner, but she was not there either. And he had kept calling and texting her since then. She hesitated when she saw the calls and the texts. "He must be worried", she thought. But then everything that he had said to her earlier that night came to her mind and she deleted the texts without reading them and texted back: "Please stop calling/texting".
But he did not surrender easily. He kept calling and texting the following day and no answer came back from María. Jack was so desperate to contact her that he called her home on Monday when he knew that she would be at soccer practice. He politely asked Sue to tell María that he needed to see her to give her back some books and music CDs, and that he would be happy to meet her at Applebee´s on Saturday evening. After thinking about it long and hard, she showed up at Applebee´s on Saturday, as she felt she needed some kind of closure. She had been miserable all week and was having second thoughts about her decision to come home for her senior year, second-guessing herself after Jack´s harsh words. And to make matters worse, she blamed herself for the way their breakup had gone down. "I should've have done it weeks ago, I let it get much worse than it was" she thought. Even Tim's efforts to distract her had failed as she was trying to keep a safe distance from him in order to protect their friendship from their words at the cliffs. He was the only one who knew about the details of her breakup with Jack, but as the week went on Mac and Sue became more and more concerned about her. It was difficult to see her smiling, she was barely eating and purple circles were starting to show under her green eyes. So they were all relieved when after her meeting with Jack she had gone back to her old self.
Besides giving her stuff back, Jack apologized and said that he did not mean any of the things he had said a week ago. That he had been hurt and jealous. He even asked her for a second chance, claiming that he did love her. María accepted his apologies and softly said that she was not in love with him. Tyra and Julie were working that shift and both kept a close eye on their table, making sure that Jack was behaving himself while they talked, in an attempt to save María from a scene at a public place. María had not told them how they had broken up, but seeing how much she had been struggling all week they both assumed the break up had not gone nicely. Tim had made sure to be there too, sitting on a booth with Sarah, his rally girl, on the other side of the restaurant. Lyla happened to be just two tables away from him, but he barely noticed her or Sarah sitting beside him. His eyes were glued on María and Jack, or, more precisely, on María, ready to jump off his seat should he felt that she needed him to intervene.
Once the Jack "issue", like she used to call it, was over, María gladly settled back into her school, practice and tutoring routine. The Panthers had made it to the play offs and everyone in Dillon was delighted. Tim took his S.A.T.s and did well and that let her spend more time focusing on her last college applications. Neither of them brought their conversation at the cliffs up again and she was happy that nothing had changed between them since then.
Although María did not want to think about college yet, she had made up her mind. Her ultimate goal was to become a professional golf player and she was sure that UT was her path to the LPGA Tour. And it was not too far away from home. She knew that she would have to work hard, but everybody said that she had what it takes to become pro, so María was now determined to go to UT. As she had told Tami, it had one of the best golf programs in the country and it was not too far away.
When she shared her decision with her parents, Mac and Sue were worried that she might be ruling out some other good options for her, so Mac asked Eric if he could talk to her about TMU. Coach Taylor had been working there as an assistant coach for a few months the year before and maybe he could convince her to apply for TMU, too.
So when María knocked on Eric´s office door after soccer practice as they had agreed on the phone, she intended to politely listen to whatever Coach Taylor had to tell her about TMU and make no commitment at all about applying. Most of the players on the football team were coming out from the locker room and looked at her with curiosity and respect. Girls were a rare sight there, but besides being a girl she was the soccer team captain, just nominated for "Best player of the year", and also Mac's daughter. And she was Riggs´ girl too for many of the football players. She quickly opened the door as she heard "Come in" and she found Matt Saracen and Tim sitting across Eric´s desk. As captains, they often talked to the coach after practice like she did with Coach Roberts herself. Eric and Matt smiled at her, Matt´s smile brighter than ever ("I still can't understand why Julie broke up with him"), and Tim winked at her his trademark grin on his face.
"Em..Sorry to interrupt, Coach. Matt, Timmy…" she smiled back.
"It´s ok. We´re done here. Please think about that, boys. See you tomorrow at practice. Come on in, María, take a seat", he said while Matt and Tim turned to leave the small room. As they headed for the door where María was standing, Matt smiled fondly at her again and Tim touched her arm as he was passing by. It was the first time since the night at the cliffs that they had had any physical contact and it sent shivers down her spine. "Oh, God, what is this? And I am sure I am blushing, too", she thought as she motioned toward one of the chairs. Eric had not missed the interaction between the three teenagers, nor María´s reaction to Tim´s touch. He knew his daughter Julie and Matt were in good terms again, although he did not know if they were still in the friend zone, and he also was aware that Tim and María were lifelong friends and were close due to tutoring, but he could almost see all their hormones flying around the room. "I was right when I told Julie that teenager boys only think about one thing", he thought while he greeted María.
"So, María, how are you doing? I hear from my wife that school is going great for you and Coach Roberts tells me that you have been nominated for "Best player of the year" by the Board of High School Sport of Texas ….
"Yes, everything is going well, thank you. About that award, I think the chances are slim, but it's an honor to be nominated. Team effort, though. The team is doing a great season and the nomination itself is a reward for all of us." The truth was that María was really excited about the nomination. It was something that she had not expected at all and it was a gift from heaven, as she had known about it right after the "Jack situation" had been over. But she wanted to share it with her team and, of course, Coach Roberts. It was them the ones that made her captain and trusted her with a prominent role in the team when they barely knew her.
"Tami was right, besides talented, she is humble", Eric thought. "And what about golf? Mac tells me you hit the driving range every day."
"Yes, Coach, I have to if I want to keep my handicap and be eligible for a scholarship." She smiled. She truly liked Coach Taylor. She was well aware that he was the closest to a father that some of his players had and that he was a role model to all of them. She knew her father fondly liked him and Tim worshiped him.
"Speaking of which, you know that your parents are worried that you might be narrowing your college options just a little too much". She was a clever girl and there was no point in beating around the bush here. "Therefore, they want me to tell you about TMU and try to talk you into sending an application there before the deadline expires."
"I know, Coach, and I am willing to listen to you about TMU and I really appreciate the time you are taking to do so. But, with all due respect, first I would like to tell you about my reasons for being so adamant about UT." Eric could not believe he had a seventeen year old girl in front of him, she talked like an adult. He wished some of his players were like her and nodded encouraging her to go on.
"The only reason I am going to college away from Dillon is that everybody that knows about golf thinks that I might have a chance at pro golf. Otherwise, I`d happily stay at home studying somewhere I could commute in and out every day. Everybody thinks I should apply to the best colleges all over the country with my grades but I give priority to being home over everything else, except the possibility of becoming a golf professional player. I've been away from home three years, and I know what it feels like. I don't want to live on the other side of the country. That´s why I came back for senior year against all my teachers and coaches´ advice. And unless you tell me otherwise, getting into the LGPA Tour coming from TMU is not a real possibility nowadays, so if I don´t make it to UT, I´d rather stay at home and attend any close-by college."
Eric did not know what to say. She was right, there was no way she could eventually be on the LPGA Tour coming from TMU. Now he completely understood why she was being a little bit stubborn about her college choices. Having moved around the country for most of his adult life, he understood the need to be home and he felt that he could help her get her parents to understand it. He sensed she could use some help on that front as Mac had been talking about her college applications for weeks.
"What can I say, María, I think you are totally right and applying for TMU then may be completely useless. I can talk to your parents and explain it to them, if you want. I know they are worried, but after listening to you I really think they shouldn´t be."
"I'd really appreciate it, Coach. Thank you so much for your time and your concern." She was starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed by her parents' worry about her college choices, so Coach Taylor intervention was very welcome. That would most certainly help her focus again, as the last weeks had been exhausting with all the drama regarding Jack and college applications.
"No, thank you, María. On another note, I have been meaning to talk to you about Riggins but I never found the right time. I know you have a busy schedule." María´s body tensed and she rested her hands on her lap, trying to calm her racing heart. Eric did not miss the gesture. "Do they want me to stop tutoring him?" That thought made her sad. Almost without noticing it, he was again someone important in her life, he was her current connection to her life before Florida and it was easy to guess that they would not spend as much time together without tutoring. Her mind raced looking for reasons to keep tutoring him in case she would need to tell Coach about them.
"Don´t worry. I just wanted to thank you for helping him this year. For the first time since I´ve known him, he's focused on school and football and is doing an outstanding performance on the field the whole season. I don´t know how, but you're doing a great job keeping him on track. So thank you so much."
A huge smile lit her face. "You´re welcome, Coach. But I think you should congratulate Tim. He is the one doing well at school and football, not me. And it will mean a lot coming for you."
When María left and Eric was alone in his office, he grabbed his phone and called Mac. "Hey, Mac, just talked to María. She´s damn right about UT and TMU... Can Sue and you come over for dinner? We will discuss it, but, bottom line, she is damn right!... Eight, then?... Ah, and something else before Sue and Tami hear about it, is María still dating Byrne?... No, no, just curious, forget I asked".